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NYPL Staff Pick
Whether you call it baseball or yakyu, the fun of the game is the same. Join one boy as he enjoys a day at the diamond on opposite sides of the world. Which do you prefer to eat while watching, soba noodles or hot dogs?

My daughters and I found this book especially fun to read. We all enjoy baseball, but we also love to learn about Japan (we have family there). My girls love learning words in Japanese, besides the fun comparisons on each page of differences between Japan and America. The art is funky and and exciting.

ELIZABETH RAMSEY BIRD
May 13, 2013

For sheer appeal, Meshon stands out. Basically what you have here is a book that is so amusing that the fact that it also happens to teach interesting facts is almost beside the point. Kids will gravitate to this book because the art looks like fun, the text is really amusing, and it’s about baseball. And if they happen to learn a ton about Japanese culture along the way? Bonus. A necessary purchase them. For sports fans and seekers of multicultural fare alike.

Age Suitability

Summary

“I love baseball . . . in America . . . and in Japan.” The boy telling us this is a ruddy-cheeked cheery little dickens. In his left hand he holds the red jersey of a Japanese team. In his right, the blue of an American. He then leads us through what it’s like to attend a baseball game with his American pop pop in the States and his ji ji in Japan. Some differences are small. You might take a bus rather than a car to a game in Japan, or you might wear an oversized foam hand rather than toot a giant plastic horn in America. Some differences are fairly large. There’s the food, the different ways of tackling the seventh inning, and even what a fan might buy on their way out. At the heart of it all, though, is the fact that when it comes to baseball, there’s only one real way to close out the day. Lie down on your bed or your mat and think, “What a wonderful day!” A glossary of terms and an Author’s Note are included at the end.